Everything Has Changed
by tomhiddlest0ner
Summary: Jackson Whittemore meets Grace Hart at fourteen years old, and everything changes. But not the way they'd both like it to. Jackson/OC, prequel songfic for my ongoing story Angels and Werewolves.


**So this is a songfic for Jackson and my OC Grace - if you haven't read Angels and Werewolves, you mightn't understand this, so I suggest you do so! Anyways, Grace and Jackson's first relationship in parts to Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran's ****_Everything Has Changed._**

**Also, any readers of Angels and Werewolves - I made a thing! A Whittehart graphic! Link is on my profile!**

* * *

_"And all I knew, this morning when I woke / is I know something now, know something now / I didn't before / and all I've seen since eighteen hours ago / is green eyes, and freckles and your smile / in the back of my mind making me feel like / I just want to know you better."_

* * *

Jackson Whittemore wasn't entirely sure what his heart was doing, but he set eyes on her at fourteen years old and it was like he couldn't tear them away from her. The school halls were filled with bodies, pushing and cursing as they tried to look cool, scurrying to their next classes. They locked eyes – the ever cliché moment of a budding romance – and Jackson swallowed thickly. Who was this girl? And then he noticed McCall and Stilinski beside her and almost snorted. _Of course_. The prettiest girls were always with McCall and Stilinski, but they never seemed to be dating any of them, to Jackson's surprise.

Nevertheless, the small smile the girl gave him was etched in his mind for the rest of the day. The freckles peppered on her nose, her tongue darting out to lick her lips, his green eyes locked on her own wide, brown doe-eyes. She was, for lack of better words, beautiful. And that night when doing his homework and IM'ing Lydia, he couldn't get her out of his mind. He needed a name, he needed to know who she was. Not knowing… well, it was killing him. And he felt like some shitty sappy romance movie where they lock eyes and do the whole love-at-first-sight bullshit before being torn apart, but he couldn't _help_ it. Maybe those movies weren't as crappy and off-the-ball as Jackson had originally thought. Then again, Lydia liked them, so they probably were just as crappy as Jackson had always thought.

* * *

_"Cause all I know is we said hello / and your eyes look like coming home / all I know is a simple name / and everything has changed / all I know is you held the door / you'll be mine and I'll be yours / all I know since yesterday / is everything has changed."_

* * *

The next day, Jackson saw her again. She was standing in her oblivious, gorgeous stupor as always and he was angry about it, because he couldn't have her. What would his friends think? She was so… plain. So plainly beautiful. Her freckled nose wrinkled as she laughed at something that the stupid Stiles kid had said, and Jackson gave a light scoff, turning back to his locker to gather his books and shove them in his bag. When he turned, she was headed in his direction – toward the doors leading outside into the school yard. He furrowed his brow and set off in the same direction, making it to the door just before her. His slender fingers gripped the door as he held it open for her and she paused, Stiles bumping into her and swearing. "Thanks," she murmured, and he smiled.

"No problem," came his suave reply, and she blushed profoundly beneath her freckles, causing him to chuckle. "I'm Jackson," he told her, and she smiled.

"I know. I'm Grace."

"Grace, let's go," Scott urged, wondering why his best friend was talking to Whittemore. The bloke was a complete jerk. The brunette glanced back at her friends before nodding, licking her lips as she smiled back at Jackson.

"I'll see you around, then," she said, and he nodded dumbly. _Smooth, Jackson…_

She couldn't help it, but Grace was completely lost in those green eyes the rest of the day. They were familiar, warm and homely… she'd missed familiar, she'd missed comfort. Her family was falling apart and, really, comfort was the last thing she had. She sighed softly, settling under their tree in the school yard before kicking Stiles for trying to snatch some of her Oreos. "Mine," she snapped, and he gave her the puppy dog eyes that she couldn't resist. "Fine, you loser," she teased, handing him one. Her mind kept drifting back to Jackson – the eye contact in the halls yesterday, the way he'd held the door for her... Grace just about snorted at her own stupidity. What would a boy like that want with her?

* * *

_"And all my walls stood tall, painted blue / and I'll take 'em down, take 'em down / and open up the doors for you / and I feel in my stomach is butterflies / the beautiful kind making up for lost time / taking flight making me feel like / I just want to know you better…"_

* * *

A week later, Jackson had finally gotten the courage to IM Grace. The boy sat at his computer, gritted his teeth and typed the message six or seven times before sighing and sending it.

**Lacrosee_king09:** hey Grace, u wanna hang out by the lake today?

Grace blinked at her computer, the IM flashing violently before her. Jackson was IM'ing her and it terrified her. Of course, they'd barely even talked since the day when he'd held the door for her, but her stomach refused to stay put and jumped right into her throat. She stared at the message for a good two minutes, unsure how to respond though she guessed something was better than nothing. Eventually, she replied with something, and Jackson breathed a sigh of relief.

**GracieAngel24: **sure, when do u want to meet?

She had always thought the text talk had looked so stupid, but she ignored it. When he responded almost a second later with a short, sweet 'now' she quickly gathered her stuff, slung her bag over her shoulder and typed back at that she was leaving home now. Jackson grinned, not bothering with a reply as he left his own home with a call to his mother that he was hanging out with Danny for a while.

The Saturday sun beat down on them both, warming them as they approached the lake. Jackson wasn't sure why, but Grace looked… different from the girls he hung out with. She didn't wear make-up like Lydia did and she didn't pout weirdly in all her Facebook photos like the cheer squad did. He liked that she was modest about what she did and wore… he'd always been so closed off with Lydia, but was he willing to just spill it all to Grace? He'd bet that he was. She was unlike anyone and he'd learned so much from just watching her interact – she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear when listening intently to people and tended to leave it there when she wasn't interested. She licked her lips and fiddled with her hands as nervous habits. When she laughed – _really _laughed – she tipped her head back and her eyes wrinkled at the corner, her nose scrunching up and her cheeks turning red. That was Grace and god, Jackson really liked it.

The two talked for hours on end that day, toes dipped in the lake as they sat on a rock overlooking the pure water. The warm sun made them giddy and happy and Jackson found that he'd tell her the answer to any question he asked just to see that glint she got in her eyes when she was really interested. She kept tucking her hair behind her ear as it would fall and the sappy fourteen year old had to resist the urge to do it for her. He wanted to… but he couldn't. Sighing, he laid back down on the rock, his toes barely scraping the water now as he placed his arms behind his head like a pillow. "What's wrong?" Grace asked, and Jackson didn't look at her.

"I like you a lot," he murmured, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Why is that bad?"

"Because I can't date you."

"Why can't you?"

"All my friends think you're weird and that I should date Lydia. And I kind of _am_ dating Lydia. Kind of."

Grace felt like she'd been kicked in the gut, but she said nothing and showed no emotion as she stared out at the glittery lake, the sun shining like stars on the surface of the rippling water. "I don't know what to say," Grace finally admitted, and Jackson swallowed and sat up.

"Be my secret girlfriend," he said, and Grace's eyes widened.

"Why should I do that? You're…_ ashamed_ of me!"

"I'm not! But I… I can't break up with Lydia at the moment. Everyone will hate me for it. And I really like you, Grace…"

Grace often wondered why she'd sealed his promise with a kiss.

* * *

_"Come back and tell me why / I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time / and meet me there tonight / let me know that it's not all in my mind…"_

* * *

The relationship lasted a few months, but Grace found she just… couldn't do it anymore. Especially when Jackson was so horrid to her in front of Lydia, holding her hand proudly and letting her call him her boyfriend. Jackson wasn't Lydia's boyfriend, Jackson was Grace's boyfriend. But she couldn't pretend that it didn't hurt anymore, so she ignored his text messages and calls, ignored his Facebook messages and IM's and notes that he stuck in her locker. She didn't need to be with someone who didn't want her and, well… what was she worth, anyway? Her father sure as hell couldn't stand to be around her – he'd just up and left with another hussy two weeks ago… the day Jackson had insulted her in front of everyone.

So she was done.

And Jackson was furious with himself, but what could he do but stay with Lydia? He worried too much about his image, wanted to look good too badly for his own good… but it wasn't over and Jackson would wait as long as he damn well had to for her to come back to him. She'd promised that she always would. It was just a matter of waiting. Unless it was all in his mind…


End file.
